This invention describes a new and unique design that raises the axle height of a wide range of vehicles including cars and minivans, delivery vans, handicapped vans, busses, campers and trailers to provide a curb level floor surface. The intended use of the overhead axle is for front wheel drive vehicles only or trailers. The axle consists of the rigid structure that connects two or more rear wheels of a motor vehicle or the two or more wheels of a trailer. The axle overarm is actually an extension of the vehicle frame and is connected to the unitized construction of the vehicle body.
This is accomplished by having the rear axle structure above head height within these vehicles. On conventional vehicles with the floor above the rear axle and suspension system it creates an elevated floor height where individuals are required to climb up to enter the vehicle. This is extremely difficult for delivery people who have to re-enter the vehicle a great number of times a day. Additional problems occur with handicapped individuals entering vehicles either by themselves, with help or in wheelchairs. Wheel chair lifts are very expensive to be incorporated into a vehicle where they are required to lift the handicapped individual up to the floor height of the vehicle. Most public vehicles are required to have wheelchair lifts for the handicapped which are expensive and take up a lot of space. On commercial vehicles it takes a lot more time assisting a handicapped person into and out of the vehicle than the other passengers which can greatly affect the scheduled time of these operations. Electric wheelchairs are most often carried on a special lift on the rear of private vehicles due to their weight. For recreational vehicles the Raised Axle and Suspension System produces a unique conveyance and the ability for elderly individuals to enter easily.
The overhead axle eliminates the need for a bulky frame going over the conventional axle below the floor between the two rear wheels of the vehicle. The main body strength of the Raised Axle and Suspension System comes from the overhead axle overarm, overhead chassis and unitized construction of the body. As a result, the entire floor may be only three inches thick, and ten inches from the ground.
Numerous innovations for various vehicles have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present design as hereinafter contrasted. The following is a summary of those prior art patents most relevant to this application at hand, as well a description outlining the difference between the features of the Raised Axle and Suspension System and the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,205 of Emile Lucien Castanier describes a rear-end suspension for an automotive vehicle comprising a rigid cross-member mounted by means of resilient bearing assemblies on the vehicle frame or body. At each side of the vehicle is provided a substantially triangular wheel arm pivoted at two vertices of the triangle to the cross-member, the third vertex carrying the spindle on which the wheel is mounted. In view to limit the longitudinal displacements of the ends of the cross-member, each of said ends is mounted on the vehicle frame by means of two directional bearing assemblies the directional axes of which intersect substantially on the axis of the cross-member.
This patent describes a rear-end suspension for an automotive vehicle comprising a rigid cross-member mounted by means of resilient bearing assemblies on the vehicle frame or body. This patent design still has the floor of the vehicle above the axle and could not be used for transporting handicapped people, and does not facilitate a walk-about interior.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,881 of Kolbel; Hans J. et al describes a vehicle suspension, wherein the wheels are mounted to bending and torsion resistant longitudinal control arms, is provided with a cross-strut with a U-shaped or V-shaped cross-section mounted between the control arms and gusset plates for strengthening the connection between the cross-strut and the control arms. A transverse corrugation is provided on the cross-strut in the vicinity of the end of the gusset plate, for strengthening the cross-strut in the vicinity of its largest discontinuity in rigidity and thereby increasing its overall strength.
This patent describes a vehicle suspension, wherein the wheels are mounted to bending and torsion resistant longitudinal control arms. This patent design still has the floor of the vehicle above the axle and could not be used for transporting handicapped people, and does not facilitate a walk-about interior.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,205 of Thiesce; Pierre describes an invention that relates to a suspension for a set of wheels of a vehicle, in which the wheels are rotatably carried by the end of an axle arm of which the hub is mounted to rotate at the end of a cross member fast with the structure of the vehicle. According to the invention, the suspension is constituted by two torsion bars coupled for each of them between one of the arms and an element fast with the structure. Each torsion bar extends parallel to the axis of the hub and to the exterior thereof, and is immobilized in rotation by one of its ends on the corresponding arm and by the other of its ends on the element which is located in the vicinity of the other arm. The hub of each of the arms is movable in translation along its axis with respect to the cross member. The invention finds particular application to the automobile industry.
This patent describes an invention that relates to a suspension for a set of wheels of a vehicle, in which the wheels are rotatably carried by the end of an axle arm. These patents have been designed for industrial or farm vehicles and have the floor of the vehicle above the axle.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,042,817 of Vijay W. Motebennur describes a self-propelled, dirigible agricultural vehicle that includes a height-adjustable chassis with an axle and a driven wheel hub. The axle is shiftable between a normal clearance position above the wheel hub and a relatively higher elevated clearance position. The chassis further includes a kingpin and a spacer section that is removably connectable to the kingpin. The axle is in the normal clearance position when the spacer is removed from the kingpin and is in the elevated clearance position when the spacer is connected to the kingpin.
This patent describes a self-propelled, dirigible agricultural vehicle that includes a height-adjustable chassis with an axle but does not describe an axle that can be used on passenger vehicles.
None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the Raised Axle and Suspension System. The present design achieves its intended purposes, objects and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of method steps and component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing readily available materials.